Harding’s softball team won three of four games on March 13-14, against Southern Nazarene University (SNU) in Bethany, Oklahoma. The games were originally scheduled to be at home, but were relocated to Bethany, Oklahoma due to inclement weather.
Freshman infielder Alexus Lawellin said the team was discouraged at first about the games getting moved to Oklahoma.
“We were all really looking forward to having a home series, but I think that we came out with the mindset that we did not drive six hours on a bus to lose,” Lawellin said. “We came in focused, and I think we had a great outcome considering the weather circumstances.”
During the first game, each team had five hits, but the Lady Bisons came out on top with a final score of 3-0. In the second game, SNU scored two runs during the seventh inning to tighten the game, but the Lady Bisons held on for a 3-2 win.
Lawellin described the team’s performance as “solid.” She said they did not have any major errors during the series which always gives you a chance to win.
“Our pitchers were giving the defense a great chance to get outs by getting ground balls and easy pop-ups,” Lawellin said. “The defense made fundamental plays and the phenomenal ones too. Our hitting was not as strong on Sunday, but we really adjusted well to (SNU’s) pitching and had a lot of timely hits (Monday).”
Although the Lady Bisons dropped the first game on Monday 8-3, they came out strong in the second and won 10-4 to take 3 of 4 games in the series.
Senior infielder Kinsey Beck said the team tries to focus on committing to the process rather than the end result of each game.
“I believe our team was really committed to (the process) this weekend,” Beck said. “This process was challenged when losing the third game, but we were able to release it, recommit and come back to win the series.”
Beck said that the team aims to grow a little bit each day. She said that as they get stronger as a team, it gets easier to move on from any bumps in the road.
“If we commit to the process and just get a little better every day, our end result will be the best we have,” Beck said. “And if we give it the best we have, then we will never have any regrets.”
Head coach Phil Berry said the team took some time this week to refocus on a “one pitch, one play” mentality.
“We were working to release the bad things that happen, refocus and work on being a good teammate and working together as a team,” Berry said. “Players tend to get a little frustrated when they make some outs or mistakes, so we just refocused on our mental game this week.”
The Lady Bisons begin a four-game series with Southeastern Oklahoma State University today at noon in Durant, Oklahoma.
